In the final weeks of school, students in Advanced Placement courses have the choice of taking special tests over the advanced material administered by the College Board.

“[The test] is just very different. The test is just very difficult, supposedly harder than any freshman chemistry class in college,” Isabel Ashley, junior, said. “It was definitely a lot harder than I thought it would be as I studied and when I actually took the test, I guess my study book was harder than the actual test but I still thought it was hard for sure.”

AP tests are generally less utilized than other standardized tests like the PSAT, SAT, or ACT. AP tests differ from others administered by the college board as Advanced Placement courses can be used as exemption from introductory college courses, depending on score.

“[The test] was definitely different from the SAT or the PSAT. It was funny because the PSAT, the SAT there’s like a bunch of people but in our Chemistry test there were like three so it was a lot more relaxed,” Ashley said. “It’s really not about college credit for me, it was more about being able to apply what I’ve learned and compare myself to other students across the nation.”

Teachers too are affected by AP testing. To gain AP certification, teachers must attend special classes and adhere to an advanced curriculum which covers the material covered on the test.
“[Teaching AP classes] is very clear cut. I know how things are structured. I know exactly what is going to be there. Because they do such a good job training teachers at the summer institutes, you know exactly where they’re going and it seems a lot easier to prepare students for AP tests than for other types of testing. The content that’s expected and the depth of knowledge is very clearly explained. I actually really like it,” Kenya Patzer, AP Physics teacher, said.